A-Song Gua Bao

Review

A-Song sits inside the Yongle Market arcade at No. 181, Section 3, Guohua Street, next to famous neighbours such as Fu Sheng Hao and Yi Wei Pin, and is a regular on Guohua Street snack rankings. Its standout is the pork tongue bun, rarely found at other gua bao shops and often recommended to adventurous visitors.

There are three versions, regular, lean pork and pork tongue, always two buns per order. Instead of the usual sweet peanut powder, the buns get a sweet peanut sauce plus pickled mustard greens and pickled radish for a sweet-salty mix. The tongue is springy and chewy, and all the meats are well braised and never dry. Dine-in orders come with a bowl of clear soup to cut the richness.

Fans praise generous portions, fair prices and the must-try tongue buns, and the free soup is a bonus. Critics say the peanut sauce is too sweet and drowns out the savoury meat, and some miss the layers of a traditional gua bao; others couldn't tell the tongue from the lean pork.

Sources disagree on hours and days off: map listings say 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., closed Wednesdays and Thursdays, while a travel article says 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. with irregular closures, ending early when sold out, so check the shop's social media first. A pork tongue order of two is about NT$100, though one traveller recorded NT$90. It's inside the market with few seats and difficult parking.

Ideal for grazing along Guohua Street and anyone curious about unusual cuts. First-timers should get a pork tongue order and have a companion order the regular buns to swap and compare; if you're wary of sweetness, take a bite plain before adding more sauce.